Home-Barista.com - Agreement - Part I
A major goal of HB is keeping the discussion focused on espresso, the barista, and coffee—topics that are consistent with the site motto "Your guide to exceptional espresso." Please review these guidelines as they constitute a part of the site's terms of service:
- Be respectful. Treat others as you would have them treat you.
- Be patient. Everyone is at different points in their learning.
- Stay on topic. Many other avenues exist for non-coffee discussions.
- Be open and honest. Many people rely on opinions presented in these forums as part of their purchase decision. The source of the information you present and basis of the opinions you express are as important at the statements themselves. For example, you should make it clear whether you speak from first hand experience, what you read elsewhere (and if appropriate, link to the source), or conventional wisdom.
- Encourage positive, shared discourse. Be mindful of participant reactions and consider the tone of your replies; ideally they should encourage positive discourse. Conversely, don't be disruptive by dominating the conversation. Dogmatic or repetitive replies are rarely welcome.
- Accept the moderators' decisions. They are volunteers who want to share their knowledge and guide the discussion.
- Help raise the discussion level. Use the how tos, resources, FAQs, and search. "Newbie" questions are welcome, but they are more likely to receive thoughtful replies if some initial research is done beforehand.
- Avoid cross-posting. Many of our members frequent multiple coffee sites. Please avoid cross-posting your question, or mention the other site(s) with referral link(s) to avoid repetitive responses.
- No promotions. Got a new business, blog, social media channel, or survey? Great! But please, do not promote it here. Such posts may be treated as spam and result in your account being banned.
See the site's Guidelines for productive discussion and Guidelines for vendor participation for more details. Note that while not explicitly stated, these guidelines include typical online forum rules like "No personal attacks" and "No commercial posts."